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Sawashiro Miyuki won the Foreign Fan Favourite Award in the just-concluded Seiyuu Awards! Let's hear her awesome acceptance speech in English: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13784251 (I'm sorry to say that I have yet to find a copy on youtube)

I'm really bad at choosing this. I guess I like Ikeda Shuuichi for males. Females is a way tougher call for me. I recently spotted a really charming voice actor in the second Zeta Gundam movie, Ikewaki Chizuru, who voiced Sarah. Too bad she hasn't got many roles overall. I also liked Reiko Tajima's performance as Lady Oscar.

Regarding the 5th Annual Seiyuu Awards (a tradition that is beyond laughable at this point) I would just like to mention that I totally called it when I said anime was desperately in need of more male roles and that creators are completely over focusing on female characters. I legitimately feel sorry for all the talented male voice actors in Japan who are probably struggling to find work in this current environment let alone even one of them actually getting nominated for an award and some recognition/credit.

This just sends a further message and impression that I take to mean that the industry just does not give two shits about the male talent it could be making use of in the mad dash to create more throwaway female character roles for characters that will transition into figurines and thus be forgotten about before long.

Oh well at least Kouki Uchiyama and some of the older talent got some token awards, but still to just not be able to give out one of the major awards says a ton about the desperate times the industry is in right now when it comes to the concerns of male vocal talent.

Regarding the 5th Annual Seiyuu Awards (a tradition that is beyond laughable at this point) I would just like to mention that I totally called it when I said anime was desperately in need of more male roles and that creators are completely over focusing on female characters. I legitimately feel sorry for all the talented male voice actors in Japan who are probably struggling to find work in this current environment let alone even one of them actually getting nominated for an award and some recognition/credit.

This just sends a further message and impression that I take to mean that the industry just does not give two shits about the male talent it could be making use of in the mad dash to create more throwaway female character roles for characters that will transition into figurines and thus be forgotten about before long.

Oh well at least Kouki Uchiyama and some of the older talent got some token awards, but still to just not be able to give out one of the major awards says a ton about the desperate times the industry is in right now when it comes to the concerns of male vocal talent.

I am sorry I find your whining about lack of roles male for voice actors funny because if you look back, I am pretty sure you'd find the exact opposite to be the case, where there were little to no roles for female voice actors I mean could you even name 5 talented female voice actors with at least 3 well known roles from series during 90s/early 00s? While there was plenty of demand for males then.

Also you're acting like every series within the last year has 1 or 2 male roles at most and that's it. Let's see just looking at last year series to name with at least 3 male roles[non-side characters]:
Durarara
Working
Angel Beats
Katanagatari
Ookami-san
Star Driver
Otome Youkai Zakuro

Also you're acting like every series within the last year has 1 or 2 male roles at most and that's it. Let's see just looking at last year series to name with at least 3 male roles[non-side characters

Add House of Five Leaves to that list as well. It includes two excellent performances by Namikawa Daisuke and my favorite male voice actor, Sakurai Takahiro (Bakeneko/Mononoke, Genji, and many more), with impressive work from the rest of the mostly-male cast as well. Namikawa gives quite a different, yet still persuasive performance as the Prince in this season's Level E. The bodyguards, especially Koyasu Takehito's Craft, are quite well voiced, too.

Actually, at the moment conditions in the industry are very harsh.
Production budgets are low, so the only seiyuu who get used are young, cheap ones, and the more experienced ones don’t get called upon at all.
In short, there are no “experts” in place. There aren’t the kind of opportunities I had to experience moving performances by senior seiyuu. As a result, new seiyuu can’t grow.
Even young seiyuu who do manage to improve find themselves no longer called upon as soon as their fee rises a little.
You can’t make a living on such low wages, it’s a vicious circle.
[...]
Of 100 classmates, only 1 or 2, if that, are able to make a living doing seiyuu work alone. But even so many keep doing it as part time work. It’s their life and they want to fulfil their dreams.

i had wonder what happen to Nakahara Mai and Ayako Kawasumi. They were on practically every show then all of a sudden they both completely disappear.

That would explain why Yoko Hikasa and Kana Hanazawa are taking multiple roles for the last few seasons. Get money while you can. And now you mention it, a lot of my faves, who were in demand about 5 years ago or so, I haven't seen them for quite a while...

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“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle

That would explain why Yoko Hikasa and Kana Hanazawa are taking multiple roles for the last few seasons. Get money while you can. And now you mention it, a lot of my faves from 5 years ago or so, I haven't seen them for quite a while...

Or Ayana Taketatsu's large amount of roles too, though some seem to be fine getting roles...

Though I can think of quite a number of seiyuu that don't seem to have to any issue getting good of work despite being older at this point, so I am not sure how much truth is in that completely .

True, but when you think of how may do stints merely to set up an idol or singing career, perhaps it's no surprise. Seasoned pros like Kikuko Inoue, Michiko Neya, Noto Mamiko, Ami Koshimitsu or Jun Fukuyama can get roles because of their versatility and their sheer talent. Getting along with a certain director or studio would probably also help in getting more regular work in that field.

Interesting to note how many VAs from Eureka Seven continued to climb the ladder after working in that series. Despite how one may feel about the series itself, it launched/sustained a good amount of careers.

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“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle

not saying they can't get any kind of work but the amount work the older/experience seiyuu receive are much less then what they used to have in their heyday.

Thing is though, is that purely the fault of the industry? Maybe the seiyuus themselves want some time off, maybe others want to focus ore on singing (if they have a singing career). Maybe it's only a few that get the short end of the stick. It's not like they don't have competition and that roles are theirs for the picking, I would imagine that they would still need to do auditions from time to time, especially if they've been away for a while. Remember, no matter how good you are, there's always someone better. And in a time where less anime is made than before, that counts double.

As for the low pay, I don't really see how starting seiyuus have reasons to complain. If they're good, they'll get hired more and that money accumulates over time (assuming they can save what they don't need to spend). And if they really can't make ends meet, they'll usually pick up singing or do some other job. I never really saw voice acting as a high-paying job, not even in Japan, so those who can live from that money have my utmost respect.

not saying they can't get any kind of work but the amount work the older/experience seiyuu receive are much less then what they used to have in their heyday.

Some are still getting plenty of roles per year, though others are appearing a bit less, but if every older seiyuu kept receiving as many roles as say Hanazawa Kana has lately, then there would literally be almost no room for new seiyuu for any semi-major characters, which I find to be far worse than the present way things are .

So far my favourite has to be Miki Shinichirou. I feel like he's rather underrated sometimes but he's been in so many anime. He's very versatile, jumping back and forth between characters that are polar opposites like Roy Mustang and Urahara Kisuke, and he puts a lot of emotion into his performances - I also like his quite distinctive voice.

I also like Ono Daisuke, Koyasu Takehito, Miyano Mamoru and Park Romi, of course.

I was about to post asking what the heck had happened to Nakahara Mai but I guess that subject has already been covered, heh. Actually, looking at my favorites list on MAL is making me kinda sad since I rarely hear anyone on there anymore (Is Kouda Mariko a seiyuu anymore? Has she had any roles since Kanon 2006?) It's good to hear Horie Yui doing another ultra-cute character in Dog Days at least.